24,OOOth. 


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jMi _ / 

VI  ISC..  ^  , 

ooutK  Af>'l(^a  (i(;K^ral  i^lAAiofy, 

Booklet  5f>'(ca,  No.  33i 

Intercessory 


Foreign) 


r\issioi7arie?.  ’ 


Pract.i(^al  frotn  a  M.i^aio^ary 

■to  Ear^e^t  CKk'l5t iarv^. 


By  RcV.  A.  C.  STREET, 


Price  One  Penny. 


of  6ou  tK  CKi  l\a. 


Ohe^Killihg  aKcJ  Two^(j»\cc, 
Poat  Pre^. 


A  i'\enr\oi^ial  oj- 

Cu<stacc  (J.  D.  AVaxWcll. 
By  HI5  inOTHCR. 

Qourv4  WKItc  Leatl\e>'(t<<  a>\4  Ciol4 
l^tKEcJkioA.  22,OOOtK. 


Mr.  DONALD  FRASER,  the  late  Travelling 
Secretary  of  the  Student  Volunteer 
IflisBionary  Union,  when  in  Germany, 
wrote  to  Mrs.  Maxwell 

Berlin,  March  11th. 

"  Wherever  I  have  gone  in  Holland  I 
“have  found  that  the  beginning  of  the  present 
“  Christian  movement  among  the  students 
“  was  largely  due  to,  or  greatly  helped  by, 
“  the  reading  of  ‘  Translated.’  ’’ 


Intercessoro  . . . 


FoKip  l»i$$jonaric$.” 


By  Rev.  A.  E.  STREET, 
of  South  China. 


‘ ‘ Jehovah 


woadered  that  there  was  no  intercessor.” — Isa.  lix.  16. 


The  following  is  not  a  literary  presentation  of  truth,  but 
is  designed  to  be  a  practical  suggestion  for  work. 

This  purpose  has  determined  the  form  of  presenta¬ 
tion,  It  has  grown  out  of  the  writer’s  experience  in 
addressing  churches,  and  the  reception  that  has  been  accorded 
the  truths  here  presented  has  revealed  the  need  for  their  more 
general  diffusion. 


Christ  did  not  command  us  to  pray  the  Lord  of  the  harvest 
that  He  send  forth  missionaries,  but  “labourers.”  The 
difference  is  intentional,  for  there  are  others  just  as  necessary 
as  missionaries.  (“Missionary”  means  “One  sent,”  and  is 
the  Latin  form  of  the  Greek  “  Apostle.”) 

Those  harvest  hands  who  directly  reach  the  souls  of  men 
and  save  them  can  be  divided  generally  into — 

(1)  Lative  Workers,  upon  whom  in  all  countries  the 
burden  of  evangelization  rests ; 

(2)  Missionaries,  who  are  no  longer  needed  when  the 
natives  have  learned  all  they  can  teach  (some  centuries  ago 
they  finished  their  work  among  the  English) ; 

(3)  Intercessors,  who  give  their  time  and  strength  to  the 
distinct  work  of  definite  intercessory  prayer. 

Of  these  three  classes,  if  comparison  is  possible  among 
things  all  of  which  are  necessary,  the  Intercessor  is  most 
important  because  he  is  working  at  the  very  root  and  founda¬ 
tion  of  all  harvest  success  and,  in  so  far  as  man  is  responsible, 
his  faithfulness  determines  the  success  of  all  others. 


I.  Definition. 

An  Intercessory  Foreign  Missionary  is  a  “  labourer  ”  luho 
cannot  go  in  'person  to  the  foreign  field,  hut  who  has  set  himself 
apart  to  pray  for  the  definite  details  of  foreign  missionary 
work.  He  alone  is  entitled  to  the  name  who  enters  upon  an 
engagement  to  work  for  definite  fields,  an  engagement  as  real 
as  an  appointment  by  a  foreign  mission  board.  His  striking 
peculiarities  are  that  be  is  working  in  the  realm  of  “  the 
heavenlies  ”  instead  of  among  visible  men,  and  that  there  are 
no  restrictions  as  to  the  number  who  can  be  intercessors,  as  to 
the  place  of  their  residences,  or  as  to  the  variety,  sweep  and 
completeness  of  the  results  accomplished. 

II.  Necessity  for  Intercessory  Foreign  Missionaries. 

That  mission  field  which  has  the  largest  number  of 
labourers  (faithful  intercessors)  whose  names  are  not  necessarily 
in  the  published  lists  will  always  be  the  most  successfully  har¬ 
vested.  This  is  true 

1.  Because  of  the  nature  of  missionary  activity. 

Eph.  vi.  10-20  reveals  the  facts  clearly,  concisely  and 


completely,  showing  that  we  are  not  primarily  overcoming  the 
prejudices  and  superstition  of  men,  but  “  principalities — powers 
— world-rulers  of  this  darkness — spiritual  hosts  of  wickedness 
in  the  heavenlies,”  which  are  various  grades  of  rulers  organised 
into  invisible  kingdoms  of  darkness.  In  Dan.  10  some  of  these 
principalities  are  mentioned  by  name:  “Prince  of  Greece,” 
“Prince  of  Persia,”  “Kings  of  Persia,”  etc.,  while  Christ  calls 
the  head  of  all  these  kingdoms  the  “Prince  of  this  World.” 
Other  forces  are  revealed  in  “  the  horses  and  chariots  of  fire 
round  about  Elisha”  and  the  “  twelve  legions  of  angels”  men¬ 
tioned  by  Jesus.  Thus  revelation  shows  missionary  activity  to 
be  a  spiritual  war  between  the  forces  of  Christ  and  those  of 
Satan,  not  merely  man  trying  to  reform  and  civilise  man. 
This  war  is  waged  for  the  possession  of  living  men  and  through 
the  medium  of  living  men.  Christ  seeks  men  to  be  “  members 
of  IJis  body  ”  while  Satan  “  enters  ”  the  hearts  of  men,  so  that 
each  works  out  his  purposes  through  the  men  who  submit  to 
him.  It  follows  that  men  must  go  in  person,  as  Jesus  came  to 
this  world  in  person,  to  do  the  work  made  possible  by  prayer. 


2.  Because  'prayer  based  on  God's  Word  is  the  only  loeapon 
man  can  iise  to  toiich  the  invisible  foe. 

We  can  reach  a  Chinaman  by  speaking  face  to  face  with 
him,  but  we  can  strike  the  spiritual  Prince  of  China  only  by 
way  of  the  place  “  above,  where  Christ  is,”  ever  living  to  make 
intercession.  An  inspection  of  Eph.  6  shows  that  the  end  of 
putting  on  the  armour  of  God  is  to  pra,y  for  all  the  saints,  but 
especially  for  Paul,  who  represented  his  missionary  successors. 

This  armour  is  not  for  selfish  protection,  but  to  enable  us 
to  “  stand  ”  and  —  like  Moses,  Aaron  and  Hur  — by  supplication 
give  victory  to  those  fighting  Amalek.  Jesus  did  not  call  upon 
the  twelve  legions  of  angels,  but  upon  His  disciples,  and  that 
they  should  w'atch  Him  in  prayer  while  He  fought  the  in¬ 
visible  foe.  In  this  He  has  shown  the  way  for  all  who  “  fight 
the  good  fight  of  faith.”  Even  now  it  is  by  intercession  that 
He  continues  the  war. 


3.  Because  the  Missionary  on  the  field  cajinot  alone  do  His 
work. 

When  the  intercessors’  hands  fall  Amalek  prevails  on  the 
mission  field  to-da3^  The  enemy  is  strong.  Jesus  refused  to 
bow  down  to  Satan,  but  the  heathen  bow  and  worship  ;  there¬ 
fore  the  blackness  of  darkness  broods  over  those  lands,  a 
stifling,  choking  power  of  death.  There  a  Christian  is  like  a 
diver  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

In  Christian  countries  prayer  is  continually  offered  for 
the  pastor  and  for  every  detail  of  the  work  of  the  Church  ; 
special  meetings  are  held  to  pray  for  a  revival.  In  open-air 
meetings,  while  one  is  speaking  others  are  praying.  Exactly 
in  the  same  way  one  or  two  missionaries  alone  among 
thousands  or  millions  need  other  persons  to  pray  definitely 
while  the}^  work  or  speak.  Only  the  need  is  more  urgent,  as 
the  bottom  of  the  sea  is  more  dangerous  than  the  air,  just  as 
there  are  more  deaths  “  on  the  firing  line  ”  than  in  the  quiet 
of  the  home. 

The  body  of  Christ  does  not  consist  of  each  one  of  us 


individually,  but  of  all  together,  and  if  a  missionary  is  left 
without  sufficient  aid  in  prayer,  he  suffers,  limps,  stumbles. 
Some  have  even  fallen  away.  He  may  succeed  in  fighting  bis 
way  to  the  very  presence  of  God  and  receive  blessings 
unspeakable,  but  meantvhile  the  heathen  perish  and  God  tells 
us  that  their  blood  is  to  be  required  at  the  hands  of  those  who 
did  not  do  their  part.  (Ezek.  xxxiii.  1-16.) 

Ill.  What  Can  Be  Done  by  Inteecessoby  Missionaeies 

1.  A  host  of  intercessors  can  be  speedily  enlisted  for 
this  war. 

2.  Enough  missionaries  and  money  can  be  found  to 
really  accomplish  our  task. 

3.  Suitable  men  can  be  sent  as  missionaries,  and  the  un¬ 
suitable  can  be  prevented  from  making  the  mistake  of  going. 
Such  mistakes  have  in  the  past  cost  many  lives  and  thousands 
of  pounds.  They  can  be  prevented  by  the  Lord  of  the  harvest 
only  when  He  is  asked  to  do  so.  Even  Christ  Himself  prayed 
all  night  before  He  chose  the  first  twelve  missionaries.  (It  is 


a  significant  fact  that  there  is  no  distinct  command  for  jnan  to 
send  forth  missionaries.  That  work  was  done  by  Christ 
Himself  and  then  by  His  Spirit  when  He  chose  Paul  and 
Barnabas.  When  they  tried  to  choose  fellow-workers  they 
quarrelled  over  the  choice.  The  command  is  to  pray). 

4.  Many  urgent  questions  of  general  missionary  policy 
can  be  solved  only  through  much  prayer. 

5.  Individual  heathen  can  be  prayed  for  by  name  and 
thus  saved. 

6.  An  adequate  native  ministry  can  be  raised  up  and 
maintained. 

7.  Eevivals  can  be  brought  about  continually  on  the 
foreign  fields. 

8.  Fresh  fillings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  can  be  given  to  over 
burdened  missionaries. 

9.  The  health  and  strength  of  missionaries  can  be  main¬ 
tained  under  the  severe  strain  of  their  physical  and  social 
surroundings. 

10.  Lonely  missionaries — those  without  many  friends — 


can  be  cheered  and  helped  until  their  usefulness  is  multiplied 
many  times. 

Experience  has  repeatedly  shown  that  the  believing 
prayer  of  one  humble  intercessor  at  home  can  bring  about  a 
revival  on  the  foreign  held  and  save  thousands.  The  ex¬ 
perience  of  one  missionary  was  that  as  far  as  man  can  see 
results,  he  was  able  to  do  more  for  the  heathen  toiling  as  an 
intercessor  in  America  than  while  he  was  among  the  heathen 
lotthout  intercessors  j^leading  for  him. 

lY.  How  TO  Do  THE  Work  of  an  Intercessory  Missionary. 

1.  Decide  deliberately  that  this  intercession  is  to  be 
a  regular  binding  duty. 

2.  Select  hxed  days,  hours,  times,  and  make  them  take 
precedence,  as  far  as  possible,  of  all  other  engagements. 

3.  Begin  humbly,  letting  experience  enlarge  and  guide. 

4.  Wait  on  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  for  directions  as  to 
what  part  of  the  field  you  belong. 

5.  Learn  the  names  of  all  missionaries  of  all  connections 
in  your  field  and  pray  for  them  by  name. 


6.  Do  not  pity  the  missionary  or  condole  with  him,  give 
him  your  sympathetic  liely. 

7.  Write  to  the  missionaries  you  are  praying  for,  asking 
pointedly  what  their  difficulties  and  needs  are.  Tell  them  you 
do  not  want  something  bright  and  newsy,  but  something 
dark  and  discouraging,  and  that  when  they  are  worn  out  you 
want  them  to  drop  you  a  post  card  telling  you  that,  so  you  can 
pray  them  strong  again. 

8.  Pray  for  every  need  or  condition  that  you  can  learn 
about.  This  article  is  only  suggestive. 

9.  Form  the  habit  of  letting  God  impress  upon  you  the 
things  for  which  to  pray.  He  will  do  it. 

10.  Not  many  words  are  needed,  but  much  time  must  be 
spent  in  “  writing  ”  upon  Him,  the  very  silence  calling  for  His 
will  to  be  done.  Silence  enables  one  to  draw^  very  near  to  God. 
“  We  know  not  how  to  pray  as  we  ought,”  and  must  let  “  the 
Spirit  Himself  make  intercession.” 

11.  Study  and  practice  the  art  of  praying  until  you  are 
expert  in  it.  The  Bible  furnishes  its  laws  and  examples,  which 


can  be  worked  out  by  patient  practice  only,  just  like  any  other 
art. 

V.  Warnings. 

Some  may  be  tempted  to  cherish  a  subtle,  hidden  feeling 
that  by  doing  this  work  they  are  conferring  a  favour  on  some 
one  by  helping.  Not  at  all ;  it  is  the  other  way  ;  the  unspeak¬ 
able  favour  is  granted  you  of  sharing  the  burden  of  intercession 
daily  carried  by  the  risen  man  Christ  Jesus  in  heaven. 

A  newly-arrived  missionary  cannot  vote  for  the  first  year, 
as  so  much  has  to  be  learned  before  he  can  vote  intelligently. 
In  the  same  way,  one  beginning  as  an  intercessory  missionary 
needs  to  consider  himself  as  a  beginner  with  much  to  learn. 

When  details  of  mission  work  begin  to  come  to  your 
knowledge,  be  exceedingly  careful  how  you  judge,  condemn 
or  decide  in  matters  that  you  have  never  met  and  that  have 
puzzled  the  wisest  men  for  many  decades.  No  war  is  sweet  or 
gentle,  but  you  are  now  fighting  Satan  enthroned  among  men, 
the  most  unscrupulous  and  horrible  of  enemies,  worse  than  man 


can  imagine.  When  matters  utterly  unexpected  and  dis¬ 
couraging  arise,  Satan  will  try  to  turn  you  away  in  disgust ; 
therefore  HEMEMBEll  that  the  worse  the  troubles  are  the 
greater  is  the  need  for  your  prayers. 

Many,  many  times  you  will  be  tempted  to  give  it  all  up  as 
useless,  for  every  possible  form  of  deception  will  be  among  his 
wiles  ”  to  stop  your  intercession ;  if  he  can  stop  each  one  his 
victory  is  assured,  and  there  are  alarmingly  few  intercessors. 

Be  ready  patiently  to  toil  on  without  apparent  results  ; 
time  is  required  for  them  to  show.  Many  a  labourer  has 
worked  for  years  without  seeing  the  results  that  overjoyed  his 
successors.  Cannot  you  do  the  same? 

Woe  he  to  any  one  toho  tries  to  become  an  intercessory  mis¬ 
sionary  lohile  the  Lord  is  calling  him  to  go  in  person.  In  Matt, 
vii.  i?3,  Christ  calls  such  “  ye  that  work  iniquity  or  lawlessness,” 
for  although  they  have  been  eminently  successful  workers  in 
the  church,  before  men,  what  they  did  was  not  “the  will”  of 
God  for  theui. 


VI.  Some  Genekal  Thuths. 


1.  Indirect  Work.  Every  Christian  should  do  some  work 
as  an  intercessory  missionary,  hut  there  are  those  at  home 
whom  the  Lord  calls  to  give  their  daily  toil  for  the  salvation  of 
the  nations.  Many  are  needed  who  hy  teaching,  writing  and 
exhorting  shall  arouse  Christians  to  a  sense  of  their  responsi¬ 
bility  for  the  death  of  those  who  perish,  not  because  they  are 
sinners,  but  because  the  salvation  prepared  for  them  by  Christ 
has  never  been  offered  to  them  by  men.  In  the  work  here 
suggested,  house-to-house  visitation  among  church  members 
has  been  proved  most  effective  in  arousing  them  to  their  privi¬ 
leges  in  the  foreign  fields.  A  caution  is  here  needed,  for  such 
work  is  only  indirect,  and  most  jealous,  prayerful  care  is 
needed  to  prevent  it  from  displacing  the  direct  work  of  inter¬ 
cession.  Any  work  that  is  visible  so  appeals  to  our  pride  that 
it  is  more  attractive  than  is  the  lonely  toil  of  intercession. 

2.  Bejected.  It  is  generally  considered  that  God  has  not 
called  one  to  the  foreign  work  because  age,  health,  family 


relations,  rejection  by  a  mission,  board  or  other  outward 
circumstances  prevent  him  from  going  abroad.  Such  circum¬ 
stances  have  710  hearing  lohatever  on  the  question  as  to  lohether 
the  Lord  luants  you  to  work  directly  for  the  salvatioii  of  the 
heathen.  God  is  waiting  for  you  to  take  your  place  in  the  vital, 
difficult  and  blessed  work  of  joining  Christ  in  interceding  before 
Him.  It  is  not  evidence  of  obedience  quietly  to  drift  along  at 
ease,  letting  the  far-away,  unseen  multitudes  perish  for  the  lack 
of  your  prayers.  Some  labourers  must  not  go  to  the  mission 
fields. 

3.  Substitutes.  When  a  draft  is  made  for  war  service 
only  a  limited  number  of  men  are  called  out,  and  a  “  substitute  ” 
has  to  be  one  of  those  not  drafted  in  his  own  name.  But  in 
this  spiritual  war  every  citizen  of  heaven  is  drafted,  and  no 
substitutes  are  possible,  because  there  are  none  left  undrafted. 
Victory  is  impossible  unless  those  at  home  meet  and  rout  the 
invisible  foe.  It  is  unjust  to  send  a  man  into  the  deadly 
blackness  of  heathenism  without  giving  your  life  in  inter¬ 
cession  for  him  while  he  gives  his  life  for  the  heathen.  We 


must  “lay  down  our  lives  for  the  brethren”  (1  John  hi.  16). 

4.  Candidates.  Beware  of  ever  urging  any  one  to  go  as 
a  missionary.  The  Holy  Spirit  only  can  do  that  with  safety. 
We  should  urge  that  one  to  set  his  will  “  as  flint  ”  that  he  is 
going  to  “  do  the  will  of  My  Father  which  is  in  heaven,”  and 
that  he  then  pray,  “  Lord,  send  forth  labourers  ”  ;  then  if  the 
Lord  really  wants  him  in  foreign  fields  it  is  only  a  matter  of 
time  when  it  will  be  made  so  plain  that  there  is  no  room  for 
doubt. 

5.  Beioards.  There  is  a  peculiar  supplementary  re  warn 
given  for  all  missionary  work.  It  is  an  addition  to  the  honours 
of  faithful  labour,  and  is  determined  not  by  what  is  done,  but  by 
what  is  “  left.”  For  every  comfort  or  frienj  that  you  leave  m 
order  to  do  this  work  you  tvill  receive  one  hundred  fold  (10,000 
per  cent.)  of  the  comfort,  rest  and  satisfaction  that  they  could 
have  afforded.  This  is  indescribably  true  of  both  missionary 
and  intercessor,  and  is  the  kind  of  “  joy  set  before  him  ”  that 
enabled  Jesus  to  “endure.”  The  missionary  “leaves”  by 
taking  ship,  the  intercessor  “leaves”  by  shutting  the  door  of 


his  closet.  [When  one  contributes  money  he  does  not  “leave” 
it,  but  lays  it  up  in  heaven  (Matt.  vi.  20  and  Luke  xviii.  22), 
where  it  becomes  the  only  treasure  he  can  call  his  own,] 
Attendance  at  church  meetings  and  conventions  becomes  a 
selfish  indulgence  of  religious  feelings  when  it  leads  to  the 
neglect  of  the  hard  work  God  wants  you  to  do.  Men  are 
dying  in  agony  while  you  are  enjoying  a  “  beautiful”  service 
and  while  God  is  calling  you  to  forget  your  very  existence  in 
watching  and  praying  with  groanings  that  cannot  be  uttered. 

“  The  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ  ”  are  discovered  by 
the  missionary,  whether  he  is  among  the  heathen  preaching  it 
to  them,  or  in  the  Home-land  interceding  for  them.  These 
things  are  not  mere  matters  of  intellectual  theory,  but  they 
have  been  proven  in  experience,  and  should  become  your 
experience  also,  for  they  are  a  following  in  the  footsteps  of 
Christ  Jesus. 


Po*t  Pree. 


Tke  i'\«h\orial^ 


CKai'l^A  DixoiA  KitT^b^f 

(Ll«ut>i  lw«|>efi9kl  YcotnaMry). 

By  H13  515TER. 


Teh  Illu^tl'atioha  ahc)  a 
Qouk4  ih  WK1<c  Leatherette  ahcl  (Jolcl, 
A  Coh\J)ahloh  Volvi»net®  “TrahAlat«4* 
5tK  Cditloh. 


"Charles  Kimber  was  one  of  the  Hedley 
"  Vicars  and  Havelock  type.  One  of  the  best 
‘  ‘  stories  we  have  seen  in  a  considerable  mass 
"  of  war  literature." — The  Spectator. 

/ -  - ■  ^ 


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